After being on the bottom for the duration of the game, 18-year-old castaway Michael Yerger finally had his torch snuffed on “Survivor: Ghost Island” during Wednesday’s 11th episode. In our morning-after interview with Michael, he tells us that he tried to make the best out of a bad situation. “Going into the game I had all of these hopes and dreams of what it might look like and what position I could work myself into. And when the game doesn’t really coincide with those plans, it’s hard, it’s difficult.” Listen to our “Survivor” exit interview podcast above.

As one of the youngest “Survivor” castaways to ever play the game, Michael remains hopeful about his experience. “You have to be adaptable and malleable and that was a huge learning thing for my game,” he reveals. “So always being on the bottom, I had to be positive and persevere and learn how to deal with those types of discouragements and losses. It was super hard but I’m very thankful for the game that I had and the success I was able to find.”

Jenna Bowman was also eliminated in Wednesday’s episode, and she uses the word “curse” to describe Malolo’s bad luck. Does Michael agree with her? “I’m not superstitious and I don’t read into a bunch of that stuff, but man if I ever were that would be the time to do it,” he laughs. “I mean, I just couldn’t catch a break. Something about that [orange] color, something about that beach. The ‘Survivor’ gods were not having it. Luck was not in our favor.”

Also in our “Survivor: Ghost Island” exit interview, Michael discusses why he made the decision to lie about his age, whether as a superfan he regrets not being able to visit Ghost Island, exactly how long he searched for those hidden immunity idols, and how he’d one day love to play with former castaways Boston Rob Mariano and Kass McQuillen.

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